Hulu Summary:
After serving five years for killing his aunt, charming teen Danny Desai returns home to enroll in high school and reconnect with old friends.
FYA Summary:
Danny Desai was arrested and convicted of killing his aunt when he was only 11 years old. No one saw him do it, but his two best friends were playing in his front yard when it happened. To this day, he has never told anyone why he did it, including his friends and family.
When Danny comes back to school, he’s greeted about how you would expect: dirty looks, wary teachers and classmates, and people calling him “socio” (as in “sociopath”) to his face. This only gets worse when a rich, pretty, popular girl ends up dead at a party the first night he’s back.
Throughout the season, there are several mysteries to solve, but the most compelling one centers around why Danny killed his aunt. (Truly, the second half of the season isn’t that great, but it’s still entertaining.)
Familiar Faces:
Denise Richards as Karen Desai
Keiko Agena as The Grief Counselor
Well, now we know what Lane Kim has done with her life. Keiko Agena is hilarious as the touchy-feely school counselor.
Sam Robards as Kyle Masterson
Hey look! It’s Nate-from-Gossip-Girl‘s dad!
Avan Jogia as Danny Desai
Couch-Sharing Capability: Medium
You don’t need friends alongside you to enjoy this show, but it couldn’t hurt. When the love triangle business starts up, you might enjoy someone there to help you mock the ridiculousness.
Recommended Level of Inebriation: First half, mild inebriation; second half, drinks might make it more believable.
Use of Your Streaming Subscription: Recommended (at least the first half)
Avan Jogia (suddenly I know who I’d pick to play Kartik in Libba Bray’s Gemma Doyle trilogy) does some fantastic, nuanced things with his character. Is he a sociopath? Did he really kill his aunt? If he did, why? Did he kill Regina Crane, too? In the first half of the season, it’s hard to tell whether he did it; the writing is fine, but Jogia’s performance is what keeps you guessing. He makes it near impossible to dislike Danny, even if he did kill his aunt.
The second half of the season veers off into love-triangle-and-evasive-teenager territory, but at that point I was too hooked to give up. If you need something entertaining but ultimately fluffy, with a diverse cast and plenty of eye candy*, give Twisted a try. As of the time of writing this, there’s no word on whether there will be a second season.
* I thought I had long left my “long hair on men” phase. I was wrong.
